


Echoes

by trevo4folhas



Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen, M/M, Supernatural - Freeform, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-07-04 16:21:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15844944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trevo4folhas/pseuds/trevo4folhas
Summary: Ichigo woke up to empty sheets beside him. Grimmjow was gone. The house was empty.The air felt clogged and eerie.Short story about Ichigo trying to adapt to a new home, in which each chapter is a paranormal event.





	1. Let me in

It was raining.

The downpour hitting the bedroom window woke Ichigo up to empty sheets beside him, and a small mess of a few hours back.

His laptop was forgotten on the floor, but still on. His and Grimmjow’s mugs rested empty on the bedside table, long cold and empty, like the half eaten pack of popcorn they gotten themselves for their movie night.

There were hard winds blowing outside, and the worn out window looked like it could break at any given moment. The house might have been old, but Ichigo was just now getting to know it. He was far from being used to living in the middle of nowhere, with only a forest around him and a few neighbors that scattered the area with plenty of space to breathe between them.

The real estate agent that gave him a short tour looked like a persuasive guy, but he didn’t even have to bother with it. The house was an inheritance from some relative of his mother’s who had nobody else to leave it to. Or at least nobody who actually wanted it. Ichigo didn’t complain. As disconnected as he was from that side of the family, it was still far away from the city noises and it wouldn’t cost him a penny.

But while at first it seemed like an improvement from his old, clogged apartment, now… Now it just felt lonely.

He figured he’d welcome the quiet and extra space, but instead the air felt somewhat eerie. Like it was too silent, too different from what he was used to.

So he asked Grimmjow to come over.

What started a few months ago as a good time with no strings attached, swiftly grew into something more. It was a recent thing. They were still easing into a serious relationship, not quite at the stage of spending the night over all the time, but Grimmjow showed up none the less. And he brought with him a pen drive of lousy movies to watch – probably figuring they wouldn’t be doing much watching in the end.

They saw half an hour of low budget cinema in his new bedroom, because it was cozier, and because Grimmjow had some pretty unapologetic second intentions. Then, their attentions shifted.

Brown eyes fell on the sheets again.

The moonlight peeking through the window was enough to show the outlines of the room. He sunk his fingers in the covers and let his hand drag through, feeling them still warm.

Sometimes Grimmjow would still leave in the middle of the night. No warning, no justification, no farewell.

Ichigo never failed to assure himself that it was fine so as long as he came back, but no matter how much of a repeat occurrence it became, at this point it didn’t really hurt any less. He disguised it under annoyance.

There had always been ulterior motives to everything Grimmjow did, but Ichigo tried pretty resiliently to convince himself he wasn’t just an effortless lay. It might have started as casual sex but they’d see each other more and more often, they’d plan afternoons together for no good reason than just that: being together. And that wasn’t such an effortless thing to keep.

Just a few hours ago, when Grimmjow was deep inside and his vision was dazed, Ichigo barely held back an “I love you” that’d been taunting his lips for days.

He kept it shut, but the feeling was there none the less, whether he said it out loud or not.

Then, Grimmjow went on to do as he always did, and left Ichigo to wake up alone without getting so much as a goodbye. Even now, the hard rain outside this house, that stood in the middle of nowhere, didn’t stop Grimmjow from walking away.

Hence the particular bitter taste on his mouth, alone in this house he was still not comfortable with, with a mess to clean, and an ugly ache on his chest.

Almost imperceptibly, drowned by the pouring rain, there was a noise from his front door. A knock.

For a moment Ichigo frowned in wonder. But then he stayed in bed, feeling petty. Nobody would bother knocking at the door at this time of the night, and in the middle of nowhere – unless that nobody was Grimmjow and he figured on his way out that it just wasn’t worth bracing the storm that night. Maybe his GPS died on him, or maybe it was too dark to run off.

Heh. A little water wouldn’t kill him. Call it karma.

The persistent knocking was annoying though, and after long minutes of staring at the ceiling and feeling trifled, Ichigo's already short fuse burned away and he eventually threw blankets off himself, striding to the front door with an unmistakable frown.

He pulled the curtains off the old styled front door’s window, and looked outside to confirm his suspicions.

Grimmjow was standing there, already soaking wet, under-dressed in his casual clothes and looking back at him impatiently.

“Open the door, Ichigo!” His muffled voice reached Ichigo from outside, but the tone he used turned out counterproductive.

Ichigo was in a bad mood.

“Hm? You look like you were going somewhere.”

Seeming to pick up on it, Grimmjow changed his speech to something a bit more pleading.

“I woke up with the rain.” He justified. “And remembered I left my car’s window open, I just went out to close it.”

“You’re getting creative with your excuses.”

“It’s not an excuse. Let me in, Ichigo!”

Ichigo scowled, feeling a bit cruel.

“And you didn’t take the house keys with you?”

“I just woke up. Wasn’t thinking clearly.” Grimmjow explained. “Open the door, please.”

“Hey, you know who also just woke up?” Ichigo threw back. “Me. Because instead of sleeping at night like a normal person, you like roaming off to do God knows what.”

“Open the damn door.”

Ichigo stilled at the tone. Grimmjow’s blue eyes were cold, riddled with something a little more dangerous than impatience.

He wasn't expecting it. Granted, his boyfriend had always been a loudmouth with an attitude problem, but his brand of stubbornness had always been more pouting than somber. If he suddenly thought he could get away with talking like that, he had another thing coming. No matter how much of himself he'd offer, Ichigo was never a pushover.

“Is that how you’re going to ask me?” Ichigo replied, stern and calm and making the underlying threat very clear.

_Check your attitude, or you’re staying out._

Grimmjow groaned, but with a glance at the empty woods that surrounded the house, he slouched his shoulders and tried again.

“Ichigo, could you please open the door. I’m freezing.”

“Slightly better.” Ichigo tilted his head, not moving an inch more.

“I’ll make it up to you.” Grimmjow promised, voice turning suggestive. “I’m not done with you yet…”

“Right.” Ichigo sighed.

He wasn’t any less annoyed, but he walked away from the door to fetch his keys anyway. As much as part of him wanted him gone after the attempted ditch, knowing Grimmjow, he’d just be loud about it for the rest of the night. Ichigo was still in a drowsy state where he could pass out as soon as he hit the sheets again. He didn't want to lose the narrowing opportunity of a proper night's sleep just yet.

Ichigo always had the predictable habit of leaving his house keys at the same place – inside an empty fruit bowl by the kitchen. Grimmjow should have known that by now. And yet, he clearly didn’t. Ichigo sighed, the scowl still heavy on his features. As he initially suspected, Grimmjow wanted to run off and regretted it once he realized the storm was stronger than he expected.

Sure made a guy like Ichigo feel special. Or rather, like a complete dumbass for handing over his heart the way he did.

Still drowsy, he walked straight into the kitchen and dove his hand into the bowl.

As soon as he did though, a pair of strong, bare arms wrapped around him.

“Who were you talking to?”

The sleep filled voice that murmured in his ears was unmistakable.

Ichigo turned his neck around to look at Grimmjow, in the same state of undress and messy hair he left him as in the bedroom.

“How did you get in?” Ichigo tore himself away from the grasp and looked at the other man up and down.

He was dry. How could he have cleaned himself up so quickly?

“The fuck do you mean…” Grimmjow mumbled.

“You were just outside, I was going to open the door…”

“Are you fucking sleep-walking or something?” His boyfriend continued muttering, although his eyes started showing his irritation.

“If this is your idea of a joke-”

“Lay down the sake Ichi… I just had to take a piss.”

A long shiver crawled its way up Ichigo’s spine. Did he just have a vivid dream? No...

No, he was wide awake. He could track down his every footstep he took to the front entrance with perfect clarity. He rushed back to the front door, looking through the glass window to find his porch empty.

Only the tree branches swung in the distance, with the blowing wind. Ichigo didn’t dare to check any further. instead he pulled the door's curtains shut again.

“You were just outside...”

“Saw a ghost or something?” A deep chuckle followed.

“Very funny–” Ichigo started, before being interrupted like his words were just sleep ramblings.

Grimmjow walked closer again and reached out, turning him towards him and digging his hands in orange hair. His lips grazed Ichigo’s neck where thin hairs still stood.

“Let’s go back to bed…” He whispered against his skin. “I’m not done with you yet.”

 

 


	2. Suicide Flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I shared the first chapter on a Discord Grimmichi server, I figured I might as well publish the second one, which I didn't show anyone.  
> It's kind of a stupid one, mostly because of the awful product placement - consider yourself warned. If it helps, I didn't even get paid for it :(

 

“This is not what I had in mind when you invited me over.”

Ichigo snorted at the comment, as he dragged a box filled with books close to a freshly installed shelf. Grimmjow was only now starting to sweat from helping him unpack the biggest things, but he’d been complaining about it as soon as he realized why exactly he was called over a good two hours ago.

“Not everything is a booty call, Grimm.”

“You know you could pay people to do this for you, right?”

“Yeah, but you do it for free.” Ichigo taunted, wiping his own brow. If anything they were both lucky there wasn’t much to move in the first place, being that his old apartment could only fit so much. Even so…

“I’m charging for this, just so you know.” Grimmjow glared at him. “Could think of better things I could be doing with my time.”

“Like zapping?”

“Like christening every room in this house.”

Ichigo raised an eyebrow in amusement, and Grimmjow wiggled his own suggestively.

He’d been tired, too tired to finish moving in on his own. And as much as the house could make him uncomfortable at times, he couldn’t just stand by and leave everything unpacked for the rest of his life. The old, leftover furniture and echoing noises of the very empty building were no doubt the reasons for his sudden paranoia. The faster he filled it up to the lived-at mess he was used to, the less daunting the whole place would look and the sooner he'd get some proper rest.

It didn't take too long for Ichigo to convince himself that the Grimmjow doppelganger he saw that night was some weird, sleep deprived hallucination his brain decided to play on him. He spent his first holidays taking care of moving paperwork and was in dire need of some proper days off. Ever the skeptic, Grimmjow also agreed he must have fucked Ichigo silly.

_Like he was that good._

“Can’t christen anything without furniture.” Ichigo commented, more to himself than as a reply.

“The floor states otherwise.”

“If you want to lie down on your back so much, be my guest.”

It wasn’t so much a dig as it was a taunt, but Grimmjow scoffed at it anyway, crossing his arms at Ichigo before dropping to sit down on the floor, half petulant, half defiant.

“Well, since I _am_ your guest,” He patted his lap. “You could at least keep me company down here.”

Ichigo threw him a sly look but nevertheless, and against his better judgment, he walked towards him and leaned by the window above Grimmjow’s head.

"The nagging company so far hasn't been very sexy. Think I'll pass."

"Who's nagging now?" Grimmjow narrowed his eyes. "And after tricking me into doing hard labor with no compensation."

“If no work gets done, there won’t be any payment.” Ichigo commented, glancing at his nails disinterestedly.

“That’s not how I do business.” Grimmjow reached for the lower hem of his shirt, pulling Ichigo down to him and paying no mind to the little resistance he was receiving. “I demand half upfront, the other half when it’s over.”

“Tche, I would have thought you’d rather get one big paycheck at the end.” Ichigo bent his knees as Grimmjow leaned further back to rest his head on the wooden floor.

His large hands pushed against Ichigo’s hips, pressing them against his own with a blatant leer on his lips.

“I was thinking if I do well enough, I’d get a bonus to make up for it.”

“Aren’t you greedy?”

“I guess I am.” Grimmjow murmured, pulling Ichigo closer by the back of his head, and pressing their lips together in a lingering kiss.

Ichigo didn’t object too hard. Maybe because his lover was a shitty influence on him, and he had a big talent for making Ichigo forget about all his other priorities. Grimmjow was a bit of a diva like that, the world had to revolve around him if he ever decided so. Still, he was a good kisser, a good lay, good at touching, and the alternative of dragging furniture wasn’t all that appealing anymore.

Long, rough fingers pushed inside the hem of Ichigo’s pants and grasped at the covered flesh. Those hands urged him to press harder against Grimmjow’s pelvis, in a slow and borderline bruising grind.

“You work fast when you want.” Ichigo broke apart from the others lips, just briefly, just for that one snarky remark.

“Only when I'm motivated .” Grimmjow replied, but he didn’t allow himself to be interrupted further. Again, his mouth met Ichigo’s, his teeth nibbled on a tender lower lip, and the only other noises he allowed himself were soft exhalations and the rustling of clothes.

Grimmjow slightly opened his eyes to take a squinted view of the man above him. Tousled hair, bright from the window light that hit him like a painting, and hooded eyes that met his own straight ahead, until they were too close to see properly anymore.

Ichigo’s own hands were already pulling Grimmjow’s shirt over his chest, roaming the torso with some familiarity – but never banalizing it. No matter how many times they’d touch, kiss, fuck, the weird feeling of belonging never left.

The feeling that Grimmjow was made for him. The near-absolute certainty of it.

A violent, loud thump in the window above them was all that broke them apart.

Startled, Ichigo sat up.

“What was that?” Grimmjow followed, having been just as caught off guard.

Ichigo stood and looked through the window, all the way to the ground bellow.

“A bird.” He commented, slightly more relieved. His heart however, hadn’t stopped racing.

“Whatever, get back here.”

Ichigo ignored the remark. Grimmjow's hands couldn't keep him on his lap, and Ichigo swiftly left them, making his way downstairs and to the outside of his house to take a closer look at the animal. Begrudgingly, Grimmjow followed him, all the while adjusting his pants. When they got outdoors, two stories beneath the window they'd been at, a dead sparrow lay in the middle of cracked dry leaves. It's body was twisted from the harsh impact, the only movement being the soft breeze that brushed its feathers.

“Yeah well, it’s dead.” Grimmjow grunted. “I’ll tell you what isn’t.”

“It just flew against the glass.” Ichigo thought out loud, all too used to ignoring crass comments.

“They’re dumb animals, they do that.”

“It’s just odd.”

Grimmjow opened his mouth to speak out another annoyed retort, but closed it back when he saw Ichigo’s expression. His own softened just a little, recognizing that discomfort. It was no news to him that Ichigo wasn’t completely comfortable in his new house just yet. Still, he brushed it off. Things like those happened when you left the city confines and actually moved to a place like this, surrounded by trees and nature.

“Someone must be playing angry birds around here.” He joked, and it only gained him a sore look.

“Guess what, smartass. It’s a sign.” Ichigo walked away, making his way to his kitchen to fetch a trash bag from the cupboards and clean his newest (and most deceased) visitor.

“A sign.”

“A sign that we have to finish moving.”

Grimmjow threw one last, ugly glare at the dead bird by his feet.

 

* * *

 

_So, when are you throwing a party in there?_

Ichigo scoffed at his phone, the device in one hand and a steaming cup of coffee in the other. After a day filled with work, he finally got some time to rest on his freshly furnished house. His feet were propped on the comfortable sofa, the TV was on and flickering some movie he wasn’t paying much mind to, and his friends were already trying to invite themselves to his new place.

He was exhausted, but resilient. Grimmjow left a couple of hours ago, and there wasn’t much to do for now, but Ichigo still felt like he was owed some leisure time before passing out.

Hence the coffee.

 _And destroy a house that survived this long that quickly?_ He typed into his phone.

Keigo was joking, of course, but it would be nice to have his group of friends over for a weekend. If anything to see if that would brighten up the place’s atmosphere a little bit. His new residence sometimes _felt_ like something crawled in there, died, and has been haunting it ever since.

Then again, he was a city boy through and through. He wasn’t used to not hearing his neighbors arguing, or blasting dubstep, or letting their toilets clog to the point where the entire apartment complex started to smell.

As Ichigo was putting his phone down on the coffee table in front of him, something in the screen caught his eye. A bright blue-red icon staring back at him that hadn’t been there before.

“Are you serious...” Ichigo frowned.

Angry birds. Grimmjow must have installed it as another one of his shitty jokes.

“That’s it, I’m dumping your ass...” He murmured.

Still, he opened the game.

Ichigo never actually played it, but a while back his younger sisters were all over it. Yuzu even got herself a few plushies of the characters, which Karin proceeded to throw at his face whenever they bickered. No, he and the game were never friends, but he knew the basics.

His finger slid across the screen without much thought, and a little cartoon bird was launched against a pig-made structure.

Ichigo scoffed, and then he heard it.

Another loud thump coming from the living room window.

In a heartbeat, he dropped the phone and stood from his couch, facing the window, hoping to God that his mind was just playing tricks on him.

Slowly, he approached the glass, his hand reaching for forgotten scissors he left over a cabinet when he was opening up boxes. Just in case.

Ichigo looked out wearily and barely saw it through the darkness. But there it was, in the grass bellow, a pigeon that wasn’t even moving anymore. Brown eyes raised to face the woods again. No other bird in sight.

He stepped away from the window, and swiftly grabbed for his phone again, scissor still in his other hand.

 _No way_ , he thought. _This is delusional._

Yet, ignoring the rational part of him that told him it was a bizarre coincidence, he pressed his finger on the screen, and slid again.

Another bird was catapulted in the game.

And the living room remained quiet.

Ichigo allowed his heart to calm down a bit in his chest, but the breath of relief didn’t make it past his lips when another loud thump hit the same window.

A feeling of absolute dread took over him.

He looked behind him, at the window and the darkness outside.

This time there was a clear feathered mark on the glass where another animal hit it.

Ichigo ran out of the room, and into the kitchen. His finger clumsily made another play in the game, and just like that, another thump reverberated through the glass.

But this time, not in the living room’s window.

Rather, in the kitchen’s, right in front of where he stood.

“Fuck!” Ichigo dropped his phone on the floor, leaning against the wall, wide eyed and panicked. “Shit!”

He took a deep breath.

Seconds ticked away in silence, but his eyes were frantically searching through the window glass, trying to see who was behind the sick prank. But he was alone. Not another living soul making itself known.

Or at least none that he could see. Without thinking further, he ran through his house, pulling every single curtain closed until nothing outdoors could peer into his house. He locked the doors, he double checked each room, he cautiously peered outside every time. Nothing but vast darkness and the trees in the distance greeted him.

When Ichigo finally returned to the kitchen, he hesitantly picked his phone back up and exited the application with trembling fingers.

“This is fucking stupid.” Ichigo mumbled to himself. “Stupid, stupid, stupid...”

In the settings, he uninstalled the app, and discarded it in the dinner table, breathing quickly. His surroundings were dead silent.

He couldn't tell how long it took for him to pick it up again, paranoid and unsure.

 _Are you busy right now?_ He typed into it, feeling ridiculous.

 _If you forgot to unpack something, you can take care of that yourself,_ the reply came right away, and Ichigo breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

He walked back to the living room, needing the background noise of his TV screen more than ever. He couldn’t stand the silence anymore.

Maybe he was just that damned tired. Maybe he was imagining things. Ichigo threw a look at his still hot coffee mug. Maybe he should stop trying to stay awake and sleep. But no matter how much he tried to justify it, his mind never played tricks on him like this before. And eventually, when the morning hit, the dead birds outside his house would prove this was no dream either.

 _You installed Angry Birds on my phone._ He texted. Not a question, just a statement.

 _No?_ Came the reply.

_I need you to come here tomorrow. As soon as you can._


	3. Moths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always been terrified of moths. Almost as much as I am terrified of birds, which makes me wonder if maybe I don't just have a phobia for things that fly.

Ichigo went to his father’s clinic the very next morning, just to make sure he shouldn’t be sending himself to the closest psychiatric ward before he got even crazier.

“Honestly, everything seems fine.” Isshin told him, as usual half serious, half playful. “Perhaps my beloved son was just looking for an excuse to visit his old man?”

“Never.” Came the blank reply, already anticipating the next words that would come out of his father's mouth.

“Oh Masaki, he never grew out of wounding me!”

“Just accept it.”

“Then what brings you here?” Isshin looked his son right in the eye, filled with curiosity. Ichigo couldn’t even meet his. He felt too stupid to explain.

In the morning after, there were no birds outside. And you bet he waited until the sun was bright and shining to step out of that house and into the bird killing woods. But the realization there was nothing left there for him was daunting. Someone either dropped by to clean them up, or some wild animal ate them.

Either that, or he was seeing things, and at 26 years old he’d rather not start questioning his own sanity just yet.

“I think I’ve just been feeling tired.” He lied. “Must have mistook it for sickness.”

“Just rest for a while. You’re on holidays, aren’t you? No point in working yourself up like that.” Isshin moved along, cleaning his utensils and leaving the clinic as impeccable as always, something that would probably surprise anyone who first knew him outside that setting. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay for lunch?”

“Yeah. Already told Grimmjow to drop by there.”

“Hmm, and when are you going to invite that boy for a lunch with the family?” Isshin pressed, with his usual subtlety.

Ichigo looked away, focusing on how interesting the bland clinic could be if you tried hard enough. The last thing he needed was for Grimmjow and his father to have an official meeting.

“So you can have him on a headlock the moment you see him?”

“No need to be so concerned over his well being! I can be a charmer too.”

It wasn’t Grimmjow’s well being that Ichigo was worried about, but his old man didn’t need to know that. His boyfriend just so happened to be one of those unmistakably noxious people to be around.

There was a complicated path to understanding and even liking Grimmjow. He was easy on the eyes right away, but then his awful personality shone through and ruined it. And then, much later, one would start to spot a few glimpses of actual charm again. A process that was a lot like an acquired taste, you just had to stick around long enough for Grimmjow to drop the asshole act.

Ichigo would know from experience. And he was pretty sure most of his friends weren’t quite sold on him just yet. Not that he could blame them when the other man never really gave any show of caring about anything, Ichigo included.

“I’m already late anyway.” Ichigo stood up, ready to leave before his dad had more chances to berate him for keeping his boyfriend out of sight.

Not that he wanted to go back. The last thing he felt like doing was to return to that old house, but everything had a logical explanation. Whether it was a prank or pure delusion, Ichigo wouldn’t let that stop him from living like your average Joe. And honestly, the sooner he got through Grimmjow’s annoying comments over being called there for nothing, the better.

Thankfully, the car ride was not that long. It was just one district away from Karakura, despite looking like it was at the end of the world. As soon as the buildings started fading away to give way to tall trees, he knew he was close to arriving.

And disregarding the experiences he’d been going through, it was a really good area to live around. Some of the least dense forested areas had small tables for picnics, swings for children, even plates with directions in case anyone got lost. It was quiet, but not in the uneasy way he’d been dealing with lately. Instead you could hear the soft bristling of trees, water streams and chirpings of peaceful animals.

Ichigo was entering a time in his life where he could start imagining a future for himself here. Maybe.

As he finally arrived to his new home, he was surprised to see Grimmjow had brought some company. He parked the car, and was greeted with a bright smile right away.

And it sure as hell wasn’t his boyfriend’s.

“Kurosaki-kun!”

“Inoue!” Ichigo couldn’t escape the incoming hug, but he wasn’t the one bothered by it either. “I didn’t know you were dropping by.”

“Ah, I guess I should have asked first.” Orihime, his long time friend, scratched the back of her head with a sheepish look. “But I have the afternoon off, and look-” She nodded towards Grimmjow, who Ichigo just noticed was holding a girly basket of bread. “-I brought a lot of goodies from work!”

“Nice. Didn’t feel like cooking right now.” Ichigo thanked her. “You two came together?”

“No, I arrived a few minutes ago and he was here.” Orihime answered. 

“You’ve been waiting for long? I’m sorry, I had to see my father.”

Before Grimmjow got the chance to snap at him for being late, Orihime brushed it all off with a cheery disposition.

“No worries! We kept each other company while you were out!”

Back at the porch, Grimmjow looked like he wanted to smash the basked on the ground and stomp on it.

 

* * *

 

Even if Grimmjow wasn’t a big fan of Orihime’s incessant ramblings, he tolerated her during the entire lunch. It was easier to do than usual since she brought with her a bunch of baked goods to keep his mouth busy.

Ichigo never knew what his problem with the bubbly woman was, but there was nothing he could do about it. He tried many times before already, but the most Grimmjow managed in Orihime’s presence was to act civil. He did awkward fake laughs at her jokes, thanked her for the food, and that was that. Every other minuted just seemed to pass by with him throwing ugly looks in her general direction.

After two solid hours of friendly chatting, he just about had enough.

“So, you told me you had something to show me last night.” Grimmjow sighed impatiently.

Ichigo glanced at Orihime, only to throw Grimmjow a frustrated look. He didn’t feel like advertising some things to everyone he knew, but he supposed Inoue was a good person. A lot better than Grimmjow at least – she probably wouldn’t brush him off that easily.

“I don’t anymore.”

“You don’t anymore.”

“No.”

“Well then.” Grimmjow stood from his chair and brushed a few crumbles from his shirt. “Nice to know I’ve wasted my time here.”

“Just hold on.” Ichigo frowned. “Remember when I asked you if you installed anything on my phone?”

“The Angry Birds bullshit?”

“It happened again.”

“What did.”

“The birds hitting the window.”

Throughout the exchange, Orihime’s head went from one side to the other, like she was tracking a ping-pong game. She dared ask them what was going on.

“Something wrong?”

Ichigo glanced at her, before facing Grimmjow again, with hesitant eyes.

Before long, the three of them were in the bushes, trying to find any dead birds that Ichigo might have missed. And sure enough, there weren’t any, but Ichigo was undeterred.

He walked around the backyard until he stood in front of the living room window that got hit twice, and stared at the glass, hoping to still see any sign that something crashed against it. Inoue, as expected, actually took him a lot more seriously than Grimmjow did when he told them both what happened.

But still, even Grimmjow was showing a certain unease when looking around for evidence of Ichigo’s torment.

“Look here.” Ichigo pointed at the glass, where a little mark stuck to the window and lasted through the night. “That’s where one of the birds hit.”

“It’s just dirt.” Grimmjow commented.

“That is so odd...” Orihime leaned closer to the glass. “You can see a bit of a feathered pattern here if you pay attention.”

“Oh yeah, and if you squint, you see Jesus too.”

“Grimmjow.” Ichigo snapped at him. “You were with me when the first one hit. Did I imagine that one too?”

“I can handle it happening once, not three times in a row after paying Angry Birds. Fuck, do you realize how ridiculous you sound?” Grimmjow spat back, his disposition having gone entirely down the drain.

Ichigo didn’t bother to think whether that was just because he was irritated or actually worried for him. The comment pissed him off. Grimmjow’s entire attitude since he arrived was pissing him off.

“You know what, just go home. I can handle this myself.” He firmly brushed him off. The cold remark actually caught Grimmjow off guard, but stubborn as he was, he couldn’t let Ichigo have the final word.

“Better not, a sparrow might try to murder you once I turn my back.”

Ichigo’s head turned so quickly towards Grimmjow, that Inoue winced at the near-whiplash.

“Guys!” Orihime tried to placate the fight. “Don’t argue over this!”

“No, let’s argue. It’s what you want, isn’t it Grimmjow?” Ichigo raised his voice. “Why else would you always push so hard to be a huge pain in the ass?”

“Hey-”

“I don’t know, _Kurosaki_ , maybe it’s not me, but the stick you got shoved in it!”

“Guys-”

“Oh, but can you blame it? Because god knows I’d too rather shove my head up there than have to hear another word from you!”

“Better not give the trees ideas, they might start knocking at your windows too!”

“Guys!”

They didn’t realize how close they were to biting each other’s noses off, until a single feather stood between them, held by Orihime who looked up at them from the grassy ground like she made a big discovery. And sure enough, she might just have.

“A feather!” She stated the obvious, but it worked well enough. “There was definitely a bird in here.”

Grimmjow and Ichigo stepped away from each other, one looking at the distance, the other focusing on Inoue’s discovery. There it was, a dark brown, long feather that probably belonged to a small bird - small, but large enough to make itself known.

“So I’m not going crazy.” Ichigo quietly commented. Grimmjow quietly glanced at him. 

"Coincidence."

That tone was so nonchalant Ichigo didn't even know whether he wanted to be right or wrong anymore. It was aggravating how much Grimmjow treated him like an idiot, and yet, all of this being a bizarre coincidence was better than the only alternative he could think of. However, he didn't get the chance to snap back at him for it.

“Well it’s your lucky day, Ichigo.” Inoue stood back up and patted his back comfortingly, all too conveniently disarming. “I know just the person who can help you.”

“Help me.” He repeated blankly.

“She’s a Shaman.” Orihime specified, and although Grimmjow didn’t say a word, he was already rolling his eyes.

For the first time in that day, Ichigo could relate.

“A Shaman.”

“They’re people who can deal with spirits, and exorcise and stuff--”

“I know what a Shaman is… Inoue.” Ichigo interrupted her.

If he wasn’t feeling stupid enough before, he was now, but he didn’t really have the heart to tell her so. Maybe he would rather be losing his mind. It would be somehow less embarrassing than trying to exorcise his new house. Grimmjow's jaw was tense again, like he wanted to snap at her for feeding Ichigo more stupid ideas.

“Well, I mean, she’s not one just yet," Orihime continued, twirling the feather in her fingers with focused eyes. "but she’s training for it, and she could absolutely help you if I asked.”

As if they hadn’t just had a fight, Ichigo and Grimmjow exchanged a knowing look.

 

* * *

 

Eventually, Orihime left, but not before assuring Ichigo she would contact her friend as soon as possible, to his dismay.

It was getting late. The lights of the house had been turned on long enough for a few moths to find their way inside. It was nothing too bothersome, but Ichigo found himself swatting them off more times than what was reasonable.

He supposed that was the problem with living in a wooded area like that.

However, something else was eating him up, surprisingly more unpleasant than any dubious paranormal happenings.

“I should go too.” Grimmjow said, having stayed oddly quiet the rest of the evening. Ichigo appreciated the end to his bitter comments, but following them with a tense silence didn’t erase all their ridiculing.

It stung that just dropping by when Ichigo was worried about something, no matter how stupid he knew it sounded, seemed like such a chore to Grimmjow.

“I want to talk to you, actually.” Ichigo jumped in. He didn’t really know what he wanted to tell him exactly, but if he didn’t say anything now, it would stay with him for a long time.

Almost impatiently, wordlessly, Grimmjow sat down on the couch and waited for Ichigo to begin. It was almost as if he already knew what was to come.

“She believes me more than you do.” Ichigo said, not quite an accusation, but a singular truth.

“You expect me to believe in ghost stories.” Grimmjow blankly responded.

“I expected you to believe _me._ ”

They didn’t speak any further for long moments. Eventually, Ichigo sighed again.

“Is this going to work?”

“Ichigo-”

“It’s _Ichigo_ again now?” Grimmjow fell silent, and Ichigo took it as a cue to continue. “Sometimes I wonder why you even come. You don’t like my friends, you don’t want to meet my family, now you think I’m an idiot--”

“I don’t think you’re an idiot.”

Ichigo could only laugh that Grimmjow didn’t bother denying the first two bits.

“I came here, was left waiting by your door with your annoying friend and spent the afternoon looking for missing dead birds.” Grimmjow raised his voice. “And you’re giving me the break up talk.”

“Figured I would spare you the annoyance of calling you again.” The justification felt more bitter than he meant to.

“Is that what you want?” Grimmjow asked, sounding hesitant to hear the answer. He shouldn’t worry however. “For me to leave the picture?”

“No.” Ichigo shook his head.

“Then don’t act like you’re doing me a favor...” Grimmjow scowled at Ichigo, although the impatience of a few hours back was replaced with a vaguely apologetic tone. “I’ll come for you no matter how stupid you sound. And if I don’t want to, I can dump you myself.”

With a sigh and rubbing his forehead, Ichigo slumped down on the couch next to Grimmjow.

“Guess you’re right.” He gave in. Even if he was left with a sour taste in his mouth, he didn't want to throw the towel just yet. Not before giving it a proper shot. He peered at Grimmjow before looking back at his own feet, trying to change the uncomfortable subject. “She wants to call a Shaman. What am I doing with my life?”

“You’re flushing it down the toilet.” Grimmjow grunted.

“And you’re here to watch the show?”

“I’m here to be a pain in the ass, I guess.” Ichigo smirked at that, as Grimmjow’s hand moved to rest on his thigh. “Look, I don’t know if we’re going to work out or not, but… If we don’t, it won’t be because of some dumb bird.”

"Birds."

Grimmjow just snorted, but something in it missed its usual mocking edge.

“You sound pretty confident.” Ichigo quietly said, raising his eyes to met blue ones in a lingering stare. Grimmjow looked like he had more to say, but when he parted his lips nothing came out. Instead, the hand on his leg moved to new territories.

Ichigo glanced at it, not too impressed with the unsubtle move.

“We never Christened the house.”

“Is this all you think about?”

“I think about it because I don’t do it enough.” Grimmjow poked him. “Because _someone_ likes being a killjoy and would rather unpack furniture.”

“Or maybe you’re just a horndog.”

“Are you gonna fuck me, or will you keep pretending you don’t want to instead?”

Ichigo paused, in mock contemplation, just for a moment before leaning closer.

 

* * *

 

There was a pleasant quiver to his legs, subtle, like the muscles were still tired after a good, long work out. Ichigo supposed his body was not too far off, but it should handle a trip to the bathroom with a bit more grace than that.

Grimmjow was still awake when Ichigo left the room, but falling more towards dream land. He was always like that. The cleanup was usually left in Ichigo’s hands, who even if not the neatest guy out there would still rather get a wet rag right away than to scrape their dried up stuff the next morning.

Even so he felt considerably better now than he did at the start of the day. Maybe because so far, the weirdest things only happened when Grimmjow wasn’t there to see them, which at the very least left him hoping that by staying by his side he wouldn’t have to deal with any of it.

The most pestering thing he had for now was the obnoxious amount of bugs everywhere, but that was fairly normal. He guessed. He was a city guy, what would he know.

One look at the bathroom mirror showed his usual reflection. Something felt off, maybe the hickeys or the scruff growing around his neck, but the clock was headed towards 2am by that point. Nothing was ever normal when it was that late.

He flicked the facet on without thinking much of it, but no water came out.

Great. Plumbing issues now.

Ichigo flicked it further, to full power, until a throaty, hollow noise came out of the sink’s pipping.

Then, like it was suddenly unclogged, a large mass of dirt, sludge, whatever that was, burst out of the facet until crystalline water finally poured out.

“Fuck,” Ichigo cussed, throwing a glance to his bedroom to see Grimmjow still there. “Gross...”

He closed the water and took a closer look.

His throat clenched and he swallowed dry. It wasn’t sludge. Just moths. Dozens of them, pretty much glued together in a wet mush, some still weakly flapping their wings.

“Why does this shit keep happening to me...” Ichigo cursed his luck, rushing to get some toilet paper and flush that mess away from sight.

“What’s wrong, Ichi...” The drowsy voice came from the bedroom. Ichigo let the water run freely for a bit longer before he was able to feel comfortable with washing his hands.

He returned to the bedroom with a wet towel in hand, and sat down on the mattress to softly wipe at Grimmjow’s skin. After a long, tender silence, he actually answered.

“The facet was clogged with moths.”

“Gross...”

“I never saw so many.” Even if he tried not to show it, the unease in ichigo's voice showed through. 

“You’re in the middle of the woods.” Grimmjow reassured him. “Bugs happen. Especially when the weather starts heating up.”

“Yeah no shit. Still... It was _clogged_.”

“Hey, unless it’s a million of them all grouped together, they’re not going to break your windows.” When Ichigo gave him a dry look, Grimmjow took the towel off his hands and pulled him down on the bed besides him. “And they’re too stupid to do that anyway.”

“You didn’t see it.” Ichigo protested, but let himself fall on the sheets regardless.

“Ain’t scared of some moths...” Grimmjow mumbled. He pulled the blankets over both of them, either not caring about bugs or feeling far too sleepy to think about it.

Tired as they were, it was that easy to pass out.

Moths didn’t worry Ichigo. Neither did the birds, per se. It was the unknown reason why those things were happening that left him with an uneasy feeling in his gut. As if those random events weren’t so random, but instead connected, directed at him.

To scare him off, to freak him out. Like the very air of the house, that seemed so strangely congested. It was only the warm body by his side that gave him some reassurance, the only thing that breathed life around there.

Maybe because of that closeness, Ichigo slept so well he didn’t even notice that body’s absence when the sun was already out. He didn’t notice the stretching, the footsteps, the curtains being lifted.

He only woke up when he heard a loud shout from downstairs.

"Fuck!"

Ichigo’s mind only afforded itself confusion for a couple of seconds. Then it jumped to awareness, and he rushed out of his bed, tripping on his sheets and jumping past the stairs to find Grimmjow cursing loudly by the kitchen’s door.

“What wrong?” Ichigo’s heart was racing, and Grimmjow didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.

As soon as he moved out of the way, Ichigo saw what freaked him out right away.

All of the walls. Just like wallpaper.

Covered not by hundreds, but thousands of moths until the kitchen’s white tiles were completely dark.

“I can’t believe this...” The words left Ichigo’s mouth out of their own volition. He either had the shittiest luck in the world, or that Shaman needed to drop by as quickly as possible.

He glanced at the windows, wondering how this could have happened. All closed. In the other rooms as well. The door was locked as ever.

“You know what?” Grimmjow was leaning against the hallway, his hand rubbing his temple. “What I said last night about moths not scaring me? I take it back. Fuck these little shits.”

 


	4. Reflection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to upload this twice per week, just because it's such a short story, but I always end up forgetting.  
> Hey, do you ever get these moments where you're sitting down, doing your thing, and you see something from the corner of your eye?

“I’m starting to think Nature is just weird as shit, and we never knew because they all crawl to the sewers back in the city.” Grimmjow whispered to his ear.

Ichigo only grunted in acknowledgment at the comment.

“If you think on these terms, we really don’t have to put up with these idiots.”

Orihime stayed true to her word. It looked like as soon as she got home that day, she gave her good Shaman friend a call, and through that very power of friendship Ichigo now had a pair of superstitious strangers looking around his house.

To _capture its energy_ they said.

Grimmjow wasn’t doing his sanity any favors by now, with a never ending barricade of stupid comments that Ichigo didn't want and didn't need.  
  
“I don’t want to be the nagging wife in this relationship, but if you sold this house you wouldn’t have to spend your money on bullshit like pest control and Shamans.”

“I’ll look like a dumbass if I sell a house just days after getting it.” Ichigo hushed him off.

“You’re already a dumbass, nobody will be surprised.” 

Ichigo threw Grimmjow a dirty look, before focusing back on the Shamans. Her name was Rukia, and if Grimmjow hadn’t forced the small woman to show her ID, Ichigo would have wondered if he wasn’t being hoaxed by a couple of teenagers. That would have been easier to believe than assuming these guys knew anything about house cleansing and evil spirits, and it was getting very difficult not to entertain the possibility that they were just checking out his place to maybe rob it while he was sleeping. Even if the woman seemed harmless enough.

She looked like a child, small and petite as she was. Her partner, Renji, although much taller and older looking, didn’t really exude a professional aura.

Maybe because he was wearing a nike tracksuit.

And besides having a pineapple-like mop of bright red hair dangling from his head, he was also covered head to toe with tribal tattoos.

But mostly, it was the nike tracksuit.

While Rukia was breathing in the air around them in what Ichigo could only assume was part of the Shaman spiritual theatrics, Renji was stretching his legs like he was readying himself for a marathon. It didn’t matter that he had an audience, he bent as low as he could, giving the two other men an uncalled for eyeful of his ass.

“My god. It’s like looking at the sun.” Grimmjow shared, quietly.

“Just give it a rest." Ichigo groaned, looking away from that scene while impatiently tapping his foot on the ground. He couldn't even pretend to believe this nonsense, but the more complacent he acted. the faster it would all end. Or at least that was his expectation. "Inoue thought this would be a good idea, so let’s get it over with.”

“There is a very negative aura in this forest, indeed.” Rukia’s serious voice interrupted them, as she walked their way with a cautious expression that nearly betrayed her age. “It’s a good thing that you have contacted me.”

“Yeah well… What’s wrong with it then?” Ichigo asked, feeling beyond awkward.

“A murder.” She calmly stated. “A gruesome murder occurred in these very woods.”

“Wow.” Grimmjow spoke, not looking the least bit amazed. “And you were able to deduce this by standing there and breathing.”

“No, fool.” Rukia scoffed at him, not taking his attitude for a single second. “I checked the local library for location info, and you are both idiots for not having done that right away.”

Grimmjow actually managed to look outraged for a second there, but it was clear the small woman wasn’t going to give him the time of the day. For one, Ichigo just wanted them to do whatever the hell their protocol was for ghostly situations, and leave so he’d never have to see them again.

And who knew, maybe that would work. Maybe he wouldn’t get more birds trying to kill themselves on his windows, or have call the big men to disinfect and scrape off the millions of moths that decided to move into his kitchen and die.

He got thrown into the bizarro world already, how much weirder could it get?

“It was a good thing you have called me. Now if you please give me another moment.” Rukia asked, as her partner finished his warming up routine and joined her. “Without loud gossip please.”

Ichigo had enough decency to feel flustered at being caught whispering. Grimmjow, not so much. It seemed that to the other two it hardly mattered. While Renji pulled a bundle of dried leaves out of nowhere and shook it noisily, Rukia closed her eyes and started to chant something indiscernible.

It was completely ridiculous. Still, he kept quiet as she asked. A bit unexpectedly, so did Grimmjow.

Ichigo ignored the strangeness of it all, and simply observed. Soon enough he started to detect a rhythm between the rattling chapaca Renji held, and Rukia’s focused voice. Spiritual or not, the very breeze seemed to start dancing around their feet, and old leaves that fell from the trees swirled on the floor to the song. Time seemed to stretch for some long minutes where they simply made a small show of it.

Then, that breeze blew stronger, and Ichigo looked at Grimmjow, who for a minute had seemed just as transfixed as he felt. The soft winds grew further and further in strength, until the tree branches moved harshly in the background.

Even if Ichigo didn’t say it out loud, he moved his lips and Grimmjow understood clearly.

_This is not normal._

He zipped his jacket up, trying to escape the cold and to cover his eyes from the rising dust all at once. Rukia kept chanting, but a crease settled between her eyebrows, and her voice had a strained edge to it that wasn’t there before.

A small drop of perspiration fell from her temple, a barely visible vein made its presence known.

Then, she opened her eyes with a loud gasp.

In the distance, a large branch snapped from the tree it was attached to and came crashing down, startling them.

The warming sun was already gone, covered by a multitude of grey clouds. Renji too stopped rattling his chapaca.

“This is a lot worse than I thought.” She finally spoke.

“What do you mean?” Ichigo hurried to her, his chest contrived from the sudden shift of the weather.

“We will need more than one visit.” She continued. “Scratch that, we will need someone who is at a higher level than I am.”

“You’re going to call him?” Renji asked, and to Ichigo’s confusion, she only nodded.

“Wait, who’s him? What are you going to do?”

“Kurosaki Ichigo, I feel a strong presence of a perception bending spirit in here.” She faced him with serious eyes and tension in her shoulders. “The longer you stick around to witness its tricks, the stronger it will grow.”

“And that means what?”

“You have to leave.” Renji called out, already packing the things they brought. “Crash at someone else’s house or something.”

“What a load of horseshit.” Grimmjow snapped loudly, and all eyes turned to him. “You didn’t do shit, and now you want to call your experienced guy or whatever. Bet that comes with an extra fee, huh?”

“Of course it doe-” Rukia started, but wasn’t allowed to finish.

“There you have it.”

Ichigo looked at Grimmjow with an uneasy face. As true as the implications rang, the broken branch, the birds, the moths, all of these were things that he could have brushed off or tried to explain individually were pilling up and becoming too much.

“You two have to stay put.” Rukia protested, facing Ichigo when she saw that Grimmjow wouldn’t listen. “If I am here, it’s because you felt something too and thought to call me. Listen to your instincts Kurosaki, not your attempts at reason. Man always attempts to find rational explanations for everything, but this universe goes far beyond rationality.”

“Listen-” He tried to interrupt.

“There is a world of darkness beyond anything we can see. And in that world, there are things that run wild.” Rukia continued. “You are Inoue’s friend. If not charging you this first meeting is what it takes for you to trust me, I will make an exception for you. But you need help.”

 

* * *

 

Her words rang loudly to him, but Ichigo didn’t leave the house right away. It was alright. Grimmjow was still there with him, watching TV as he waited for him to finish packing his bags. There wasn't much he needed to take with him, just some clothes and the bare basics.

Ichigo would be spending the night at his place, but he wasn't planning for long. From the room next door, the movie dialogue was entrenching itself in his ears.

_Think you of the fact that a deaf person cannot hear. Then, what deafness may we not all possess?_

It was a rare thing to happen, to stay at Grimmjow's home. Not new, not a debut, but rare. Grimmjow, for better and for worse, was a pretty private person even towards Ichigo. He liked to keep to his spartan corner with his two cats and pleasantly quiet neighbors. Quiet, because they all learned not to cross the big, blue haired guy next door.

_What senses do we lack that we cannot see and cannot hear another world all around us?_

Either Grimmjow, who was dozing off by himself at that point, picked that channel to mess with Ichigo, or the Universe itself was giving him a sign to get the hell out of there. He was about done anyway. The doors were all locked and tightly secured (lest those Shamans really try to rob him despite Orihime's countless reassurances that they were trustworthy), and his few safe possessions were already packed.

He went to the bathroom to pick the last things he had left to take. Toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, razors and shaving cream. He shoved them all into a small travel bag and faced the mirror once again. The bags under his eyes were getting bigger, he even started to look paler.

“Are you done yet?” Grimmjow called out from the living room, making Ichigo glance out the bathroom’s door.

“Yeah.” He answered, and faced the mirror again.

His breath got caught in his throat. No.

Everything was fine.

But for a moment there he could have sworn his own reflection didn’t move along with him. Not in the right way.

"So?" Grimmjow groaned from the sofa.

Ichigo kept his eyes fixed on the mirror before finally moving. To one side first, then the other. Up and down, staring ahead and just waiting for something to happen.

But nothing did.

“I’m waiting.” Grimmjow’s annoyed voice urged him on, and with newfound irritation of his own, Ichigo grabbed the bag and marched out to him, never noticing his reflection turned back around to grin at his retreating form, golden eyes bright against a dark sclera.

 


	5. The White Shadow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to update again, I'm sorry! But this is really tiny, so I'll post two chapters to make up for it :D  
> Unfortunately I still haven't written the last one, so that might take a while.

Grimmjow’s cat was as demanding for attention as his owner. Not that Ichigo complained in this case. Pan was easy enough to please – all she wanted was for him to pet her through the night and otherwise keep still as she kneaded his shirt.

He would have pushed her back every time a long nail poked through the fabric and into his skin, but it was hard to truly admonish something that looked that content and purred that loudly. Her owner was sleeping on the couch next to them, having passed out in true catlike fashion when the movie started fading into a dull sequence.

But Ichigo couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t even bring himself to take them both to Grimmjow’s bedroom to lay down in a proper bed. This apartment was a lot like his old one, humble, lived at (which was not to say messy) and unpretentious. The most expensive thing in it was probably the big TV set, and only because Grimmjow liked his movie nights, when he wasn’t sleeping them away.

The couch was a two seat, too small to sleep in, and the smell of food from the kitchen one door away never failed to fill the house whenever someone cooked. It wasn’t claustrophobic, not quite. But Ichigo was feeling confined.

Not because of the house, but because he couldn’t shake off the eerie feeling that something was there with them, and there was nowhere he could go to shake it off.

It was only the flickering TV screen that lit the room. The lights were out, and when Ichigo glanced behind him just to make sure that feeling was nothing but, all he could see were the dark silhouettes of furniture. Anything could be among them, and he’d be none the wiser.

But he shook it off. What else was he supposed to do? Grimmjow was sleeping next to him, his head dangerously close to falling on his shoulder, Pan was as relaxed as ever on his lap and Tera, the other cat, was curled in a ball on the small cat bed next to the couch.

Ichigo was the only one still awake, and the only one worried. Probably because he allowed a bunch of superstitious people to fill his head with stupid stories that he knew deep down didn’t make any sense. How could they? Ghosts, spirits, the supernatural – always hoaxes made up for one reason or the other.

He scowled at himself, allowing his hesitations to give way to frustration. Grimmjow was right, the birds, the moth infestation, all of the bizarre things that he went through could easily be explained by the fact he was a city boy spending his days in the middle of the woods for the first time in his life, and simply being overwhelmed by the strangeness of nature. Then came Orihime and her usual outlandish ideas to fill his head with nonsense.

Ichigo took Pan in his arms and quietly laid her on Grimmjow’s chest. Brown eyes lingered on the shadows, taking note of them before turning on the small light on top of the coffee table. A cabinet, a coat hanger, a floor lamp, nothing significant filled his vision.

He took one last look at Grimmjow, who barely moved at the added weight, and made his way to the bathroom. However, he wasn’t alone.

Ever the picky animal, Pan tottered out of her owner’s chest with the closest thing to annoyance a cat’s face would ever manage, and followed Ichigo through the house. She only stopped when he did, in front of the toilet.

“Shouldn’t ladies look the other way?” Ichigo glanced at the cat, while his hands were fumbling around his zipper. “You weirdo...”

Not bothering to be insulted, Pan simply sat down, licking her paw and rubbing her face like his business was none of hers. Ichigo ignored the other living presence. He wasn’t letting some ghosts get in the way of his necessities, he sure as hell wasn’t going to allow Grimmjow’s cat that either.

He flushed, washed his hands, and sidestepped around the cat to twist the door knob and somehow drag himself – and Grimmjow – to bed where they belonged.

It was with that newfound nonchalance that he opened the door and froze.

As he stared ahead, he recognized the hallway in front of him. It wasn’t Grimmjow’s.

It was the one he had been seeing every day on his own home, upstairs, that was devoid of anything besides the doors to his and the guest’s bedroom. No paintings, no decoration, just an ordinary passage way, lit by a single large window at its very end.

Ichigo’s eyes were fixed on that very own source of light.

It was the glow of the moon that revealed the large, black silhouette staring back at him in the distance.

This time, Ichigo _knew_ it was no trick. It was no lamp, no hanger, no nothing.

Just someone. Or _something_. Waiting.

Through pure instinct, he didn’t wait another moment to see what would happen. He smashed the bathroom door closed and stepped away from it with his heart thundering in his chest.

He had no words. Only raspy, rushed breaths left him. But once again, he was filled by that overwhelming sensation of being watched, and he looked to his side to see that he was standing right next to the mirror.

Ichigo’s eyes were glued there, as if any moment something would jump out from it and right at him.

He couldn’t tell for how long he stayed that way, facing his own reflection as it simply stared back at him, showing him his exact expression and nothing more.

His panicked state was only broken off by Pan’s threatening growl. Not knowing where to turn, he looked down at her. She was facing the door with her back arched, fur bristling as she bared her teeth, trying to make herself so much bigger than the small, harmless cat she was.

Ichigo followed her glare, and his lungs went dry.

The dark silhouette he was sure he hallucinated was right in front of them, in the more minuscule than ever bathroom, just a few steps away... Like it crossed the distance between the hallway _that shouldn’t_ _have ever been_ _there_ and through the door in an instant.

The lights flickered out with mocking resistance, until the whole room was obscured.

As Ichigo took one step back, letting his back hit the tiled wall, Pan clawed forward, trying to scare the figure that stood there with them. At the back of his mind the urge to grab her and take the tiny animal away from that thing was screaming at him. He was otherwise frozen, his sight glued to that silhouette, his every muscle refusing to listen to him. 

He felt as though if he moved an inch, that thing would jump at him.

As he adapted to the darkness, little by little he could see it better. And what he recognized was his own grin, his own hair, his own features. All of him, bleached into white.

“Ichigo!”

Like a Godsend, Grimmjow’s voice called out to him from the other side of the door. The figure, now clearer than ever, only grinned as a reaction.

 _It’s me_ , Ichigo thought, _But my negative._

The whites of the dark shadow’s eyes were pure black, and the only color he bore was the feverish, sickening yellow of his iris’.

"Open the door, Ichigo!"

Grimmjow, who had woken up with the slamming of a door and his cat’s loud hissing, had rushed out of the couch the moment he noticed Ichigo was gone. He struggled to open the bathroom door where he could hear them inside - or rather, Pan's quiet growling - but it didn’t budge.

Ichigo couldn’t even reply. He didn’t dare.

“Ichigo!” With a frustrated shout, Grimmjow stepped back and kicked the door as harshly as he could. “Say something, fuck!”

As if knowing Ichigo wouldn’t, Pan hissed loudly.

That was good enough for Grimmjow. With all the strength he had in him, he hit the door repeatedly until he could feel it give in. His shoulder ached from bashing against it, but he wasn’t really feeling the pain.

Fuck his shoulder. Fuck his door.

As big as he was, as hard as he was, it was the sheer adrenaline pouring into his veins that numbed down everything else. He would not allow himself to waste a single second.

Finally, as Ichigo stood numbly inside, unable to gather the strength to do anything at all, the lights flickered on and the shadow was gone with the darkness. As if it had been simply blinked away. The door slammed open at that very moment and Grimmjow burst inside, crashing to the floor by Ichigo’s feet until he looked up, alarmed, to see his loved one’s frightened eyes looking back at him.

“Ichigo!” He scrambled to his feet, hands to each side of Ichigo’s face, checking for any sign that something wasn’t right. “Are you okay? What happened?!”

Ichigo parted his lips to answer, his own arms finally moving to grasp Grimmjow’s, but he didn’t say anything. Instead he drew in a sharp breath, as if he hadn't been able to before.

Pan’s incessant hissing didn’t stop. Instead it grew louder. But the silhouette was gone, the lights were on, the open door revealed the rest of Grimmjow’s apartment like nothing had ever happened.

Then again, the cat was no longer growling towards the door. Instead, she had turned against the wall behind them.

Grimmjow shifted his attention from Ichigo to her, following her threats.

Slowly, hesitantly, he turned around. And slowly, he came face to face with the surface of his bathroom’s mirror, showing him his own wide, baggy eyes.

 


	6. A Thing of Evil

Grimmjow ran his hand through his hair for what seemed like the 100th time that day, lest its stylized clawed pompadour in any way fall from grace. It wouldn’t. The blue haired man was so keen on pulling off that style every single day, his hands would mechanically find a way to gel it back to its usual position.

“Stop doing that.” Ichigo mumbled, sounding a lot grumpier than he wanted. He gave Grimmjow a hand before they left, combing his hair up in the typical mess, but without a way to check it for himself it seemed that Grimmjow didn’t trust his judgment.

“Gotta make sure it stays up.” Came the undeterred reply.

“A tornado could pass by and it’d stay the same.” Ichigo turned his eyes to the river bank in front of them. The air was growing chilly, but the sunset painting the water in golden tones almost gave the illusion of warmth.

“It doesn’t feel right.”

“It’s the same as always.”

“I feel what I feel.” Grimmjow groaned in return, ever persistent.

“Then you shouldn’t have gotten rid of your mirrors.” Ichigo snapped back. “I’ll take the apparitions over your obsessive grooming any time.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

They sat on the park’s bench in uncomfortable silence. Even though Grimmjow swiftly left all his mirrors in the trash, they still didn’t want to go back home. But soon it would be dark, and eventually they’d have to man up and go inside to whatever was waiting there.

Grimmjow hadn’t seen the shadow that Ichigo did, but he felt it. Pan’s loud hissing the previous night only seemed to aggravate him further, to the point where he actually asked the couple that lived downstairs from his own apartment to look after his cats for him. Just for a few days.

Just until they got everything taken care of.

“I’m going back to my house.” Ichigo broke the silence.

“The hell you will.”

“It followed me here.” He continued. “I brought it into your home.”

Grimmjow hesitated before answering, but he was transparent none the less. He knew as much as Ichigo did that between them, expressing sympathy wouldn’t work.

“Yeah you did, so don’t think for a minute you get to leave me alone with it.”

“Once I’m gone, so will it.” Ichigo sighed. “You’ll be better off. This thing shouldn’t be your problem.”

“You've been saying stupid shit like that a lot.” Grimmjow snapped at him, out of nowhere. "Like you want to dump me."

Ichigo forgot all about the river’s sparkling surface, facing Grimmjow to stare straight into his eyes. And what he saw in them surprised him.

“What-” He stuttered.

“Do you?” Grimmjow pressed. “Because I told you I was willing to give us a go. I don’t know what that means to you, but to me it means your problems are my problems too.”

Ichigo didn’t reply right away. Grimmjow looked the other way, not wanting to show he was upset, but even as he tried to disguise it as sheer annoyance, he couldn’t stop himself from continuing.

“It’s the second time you come at me with that sort of talk.” He said. “Like you’re waiting for an excuse to send me off.”

Those were words Ichigo never wanted to hear. Not now, not ever.

“I’m not.” Ichigo firmly interrupted him. “And I didn’t mean to bother you like that, I just-”

“Who said it bothered me?” Grimmjow spoke over him.

“I just,” Ichigo pressed. “hate the thought that whatever is chasing me goes after you too.”

“How selfless of you.”

“I mean it.” Ichigo grabbed Grimmjow’s arm, forcing him to face him. “I don’t want you gone, but...”

The words he wanted to say tickled his tongue.

“I like you. A lot.” He bit them back. “And if you get hurt because of me--”

“Brrr.” Grimmjow rolled his eyes, but a small smile teased his lips. Ichigo smirked back right away, just as unused to that kind of heartfelt chatter.

“I’m sorry you had to hear that.” Ichigo joked.

“Never say it again.”

“I wounded your pride, didn’t I?”

“Went straight for the balls.” Grimmjow leaned back on the bench. “What you can take, I can take tenfold. I ain’t fragile.”

Ichigo waved him off. He knew he wasn’t. Ever since he met him, months ago at the bar downtown.

It took the two of them a long time to try anything serious. It sounded so much easier from the start to put a casual label on it and not have to think of feelings or prospects for the future, but at some point those became inevitable. And that was where they stood now, caring for each other and not knowing how to express that without embarrassing themselves.

Hence their mutual doubts. Because as long as neither of them put their true emotions out there, neither of them could be sure they were requited.

Maybe just strongly assume.

Ichigo reached for Grimmjow’s hand, and without protest held it in his own. He would take care of everything that was plaguing him. And once that was done, and there was nothing else but the two of them, he would put it out there.

“I’m not running away anymore. Gonna take this head on.” Ichigo spoke resolutely.

“Like you have another option.”

 

* * *

 

He left to his house alone. Grimmjow had a work meeting he couldn’t miss, but as it shouldn’t take long, Ichigo assured him it would be fine. He could take care of himself, after all Grimmjow wasn’t the only one capable of feeling offense at the implications that whatever was going on was too much sand for his truck.

It might not have been a smart choice to go back by himself after what he saw, but pride was a powerful persuader. And in any case, he couldn’t just abandon his house for days when it was in the middle of nowhere. Everything he owned was in there now, and he was not willing to let some burglar have a field trip rummaging through his things, knowing nobody would be there to stop him.

Paranoid? No. Safe. For better and worse, his father instilled the “lock the doors and windows” habit in him. 

That was why Ichigo was expecting his new home to be untouched, and at first glance he believed it was. Outside there were no dead birds laying around, and once he stepped foot inside he sighed with relief. No moths or other insects either.

He did a quick run-over of the first floor. Everything looked the same, from the books in the shelves, to the picture frames, even the bleached smell of the kitchen from when he had to call pest control. Ichigo opened his fridge, and its humming tore through the house’s silence. The food was intact, nothing rotten or dirty.

He wasn’t quite sure what he was expecting to find, but to his relief there was no reason for alarm so far. However, just as he loosened his shoulders with a more relaxed breath, he heard something.

A Bang.

The creaking and loud slam of a door upstairs.

It was as if his blood froze in his veins. Ichigo paled instantly at the sudden realization that he wasn’t as alone as he wished he was. Rushing to the drawers of the kitchen counter, he grabbed the largest knife he had and held it up, ready to defend himself.

The thought that a knife could not do much against the paranormal didn’t stop him from tightening his grip. Even with the fear crawling on his skin, he hadn’t forgotten what he told himself earlier. He would put an end to this.

Like hell he was going to have whatever was haunting him stick around for the rest of his life.

The door upstairs creaked again, as if calling for him.

So be it. Ichigo made his way to the second floor, droplets of perspiration rising in his skin. In the quiet house, his heart beat so loudly it felt like a drum set. One footstep, two footsteps, five, eight, twelve. His nervous breath could be heard a mile away, he was sure of it.

He stepped foot in the hallway that haunted him the night before. The same that greeted him when he opened Grimmjow’s bathroom door expecting the small apartment. To his left, the door to his room, to his right, the one to the guest’s. Then, the window at the end of the hallway, left open.

“Fuck. Fuck!” Ichigo cursed, lowering his knife, although he still held it firmly. One of the doors creaked again, and with the wind that made its way inside through the window, it smashed back into its hard frame.

It was just the air current. When he left in a hurry, he must have forgotten to lock that one properly.

With a shaky sigh, he moved in closer and shut it, locking it for good measure. It was getting dark outside, and the sky had already faded from a bright orange to violet.

In the distance, tree branches moved with the soft wind, peacefully as a few birds flew from branch to branch and nothing more. Ichigo squared his shoulders, remembering the last time he'd seen some flying nearby, but they were far away from him, seemingly undisturbed by anything.

Just living their lives.

He saw it then. Its reflection blending with the dark branches of the trees outside. Those very black eyes, that same demonic grin, standing right behind his own bewildered face.

Ichigo flipped around, knife raised back up and ready to strike, but the hallway was empty.

It couldn't have been paranoia. He didn't believe that was the case anymore, but his head still scrambled to excuse what he saw with nerves and anxiety. Left by himself, he did not feel safe. He didn’t know whether the danger lay ahead or behind him.

 _Nobody is here_ , Ichigo reassured himself, _and yet I won't dare move_.

Ichigo found himself split between skepticism and wanting to flee. And at the same time, his muscles tensed with an urge to stand still, to make himself invisible to whatever force that was out there. It was a familiar feeling - all too recent to forget.

What a stupid thought, to pretend that if he didn’t move, they’d leave him be.

“Ichigo!” A voice called out from outside, accompanied by a harsh fist that impatiently knocked at the front door. “Let me in.”

It tore Ichigo away from his paralysis. Grimmjow was there... Grimmjow who made him feel reassured, who made sure he wasn’t alone facing this, who Ichigo thanked over and over again in his mind for being such a stubborn man that he stuck around no matter how bad things were getting.

He rushed back to the first floor, nearly tripping down the stairs before somehow finding his balance again. He could see Grimmjow’s blue hair through his front door’s window, and without waiting another moment, he grasped the handle and opened it completely.

“I just saw it again!” Ichigo breathed out, but much to his surprise Grimmjow barely reacted to his alarm.

“See what again?” The blue haired man smiled at him, looking at his surroundings as if only now he got to take them in properly.

“The shadow man. In the window’s reflection.” Ichigo simply looked at Grimmjow as he specified, his brain still racing. It looked like every surface was a gateway, not just mirrors.

“Ah, the shadow man.” Grimmjow walked inside.

Ichigo frowned.

“It was upstairs.” He continued, following his lover as he looked around the house with strange contentment. “In the hallway I saw when I was at your place. In that very window.”

“You’re holding a knife.” Grimmjow pointed out.

“I wasn’t sure if...” Ichigo made the movement to put it down, but at the very last second his hand urged him to keep holding it.

Sheer instinct told him to stay put. He faced Grimmjow once again, taking in his unusual response.

The blue eyes he fell in love with just looked back at him with all their glow gone. It hit him like a bucket of freezing cold water.

Ichigo took one step back, and mirroring him, Grimmjow took one step front.

“This is not funny, Grimm.” He warned.

Ichigo's mind was reliving their first night together in the house, when he woke up to an empty bed only to hear Grimmjow knocking on the door outside, asking to be let in.

Except that was never Grimmjow. _This_ was never Grimmjow. And whoever, _whatever_ this was, it wasn’t his friend.

Seconds ticked by in which their eyes stayed glued to each other.

Then, Ichigo snapped into action.

The moment he ran away, he heard Grimmjow rushing to catch him. Ichigo entered the kitchen and looked back only to close its doors, right in the face of the monster that was a breath away from grabbing him.

The loud slam of the door shook every frame that hung in the house’s walls, and after he twisted the key and locked it, Ichigo let out one big, wavering exhale. From the other side of the door he head the loud cackling of the thing that was after him, wearing Grimmjow’s face.

With his knife still in hand, Ichigo slumped to the floor, close to hyperventilating.

“Let me iiiiiin.” A sing-along voice taunted him. “This is not how you treat your guests.”

“You’re not my guest.” Ichigo snapped back, nearly falling apart when all he received back was a loud laugh.

“Open upppp.” A quiet, scratching noise crawled up and down the door between them. A nail, running through its surface. “Open!”

The last command was punctuated with a thunderous smack, the wooden surface of the door trembling from the hit.

Ichigo stumbled his way back up, knife held tightly by his two hands. All of his surroundings felt completely numb, like Ichigo was submerged in deep waters. The bristling of trees was gone, and so was the wind, the birds, the world outside. All he could hear was the excited wheeze waiting for his reply.

His eyes were stuck to that door, as if at any moment it would burst open and the thing behind it would jump at him with sharp claws.

“This is my house, leave it.” He stumbled with words that were only laughed off. Ichigo was too scared, and his fear was permeating the air around him. No matter how much he wanted to sound authoritative, panic carried through every word.

“Are you scared? Of what I might do to you?”

Ichigo swallowed dry, bending his knees, expecting the worst.

“Or are you scared for him?” The shrill voice laughed at him.

“Don’t-” Ichigo rasped out. The implication brought a shiver up his spine.

“You know, you already invited me in.” The voice, that sounded less and less like Grimmjow and more and more like a distortion, seemed to make its way to him like there was no wall between them. “This door means nothing to me but a courtesy.”

“Step back!” Ichigo roared, knife ready to strike.

“There are other doors I can cross.”

Those last words filled the air, echoing, alerting every single one of Ichigo’s senses.

As the hairs in his arms raised, Ichigo remembered he was only at his kitchen, not a bunker, and that there was another door to the backyard right behind him.

The knowledge sunk in, and he turned around to find he wasn’t alone anymore.

There was Grimmjow, reaching out to him, so very close that Ichigo could almost feel the air between them part to allow for their touch.

He didn’t think any further. He just slashed his knife until he felt his target’s flesh give in.

“SHIT!” Grimmjow screamed, his own instincts rushing forward to prevent the blade from cutting him further. He shifted his arm to the left and pushed Ichigo to the floor with him.

The knife pierced through his hand like it was butter, and dark red blood poured out of it like a river stream. It stayed there even as Ichigo released his grasp.

Ichigo thought he had been afraid before. But this was a thousand times worse than his biggest nightmare.

Grimmjow gasped, holding his wrist as his wide eyes were stuck to the blade protruding from the palm of his hand.

“Grimmjow!?” He yelled, realizing what he’d just done.

“WHAT THE HELL, ICHIGO?” Grimmjow yelled in pain, crouching until his forehead touched the floor. “YOU FUCKER!”

Ichigo could have sworn he heard the thing cackling again, softly, right next to his ear.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked the first bit, and if you do please let me know :D  
> The story is almost completely written, but I could use a little push to finish the last chapter. And if horror isn't your thing... I'm sorry! I am a complete sucker for the genre and all its cliches. 
> 
> The chapters will be short, it'll read quickly (I hope) and it won't last too long. I still hope you enjoy it.


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